I think it's about time we give a strong message to all politicians that we will tolerate nothing else other than the unadulterated truth. We all know that the Arizona law has nothing to do with crime prevention ... it is so obvious that illegals do not commit more crimes than the local population. But, it is a convenient facade to hide the obvious agenda, which is to 'terrorize' the immigrant population (both legal and illegal) so that they'll think twice before immigrating to America (or crawling under the fence). The local population is sick of the growing 'foregin' population and is furious about them taking their jobs.

Well, I don't expect that truth from the Arizona governor, but at the very least what I would have liked to hear from her and the legislators was something like the below.

"We have tried various options in the past to sten the flow of illegal immigrants in our state, and partly due to inadequate support from the federal government none of those initiatives have been successful. Since we cannot wait for the Federal government to fix this complex issue, we are forced to pass a tough law to combat this rampant problem. We realize that this may cause some concern to our legal immigrants, whom we welcome with open arms and who have bought enormous diversity and economic vibrancy to our state and country. However, please rest assured that we will not let this law be miused in any way and will very strictly deal with any abuses related to this law. We will not allow police officers to stop a person solely for the purpose of checking papers. We just want this law to be an additional tool in their arsenal, so that when a stop has been made for an unrelated offence, the officer has the legal authority to check the papers only if the situation demands such a request. We will be happy to discuss all the details of this new law with anybody who desires it, and will also set up a number where people call up relating to any perceived abuse of this law. We thank the residents of Arizona for their trust and cooperation."

Immigration, US Politics, Arizona Law

The dirty reality of politics is evident from this statment from the Arizona governor, Jan Brewer. "I received 5186 calls in favor of the law and 2006 calls against". Obviously, principles and justice do not play a role here. The role of the leader, whether it is a governor or a president, is not to fan the flames of fanaticism that has taken over the general population. It is to think on a higher plane and do the right thing, not just follow the mob. If joblessness and depair have made people so deseperate that they are 'desert'ing the last shreds of morality and justice, then it is the duty of the leader to try to reason with them, and not fan the flames of bigotry and injustice. It is very evident that Jan Brewer will go to any extent to keep her seat, and if signing the law is required to get herself re-elected she will do it in a flash, even if it means trashing every basic tenet of decency and justice. We do not want leaders who are looking only after themselves and we will make sure that she does not get re-elected. Obama became president because he had the guts, at at time when everyone was pandering to public fury after 9/11 and votedi n favor of the Iraq war, to strongly oppose the Iraq war and very presciently laid out the results of such an endeavour (all of which have come true). We want leaders who have what it takes to do what is right, and not just do what it takes to get re-elected.

Let's also make one more fact very clear to her. There are many people out there who are opposed to this law and haven't called her yet. So let's even out those numbers and flood her with some nay calls that the calls in favor of the law will seem like  a rounding error. Moreover, one convenient ommision from the governor is that she hasn't disclosed how many other modes of transmission she has received and hwat the count for that is. I have a feeling that neanderthals who support the law might be more amenable to using the phone (hey, there might no Internet connection in those caves) and people who have the capability to think on a higher plan might use more modern modes of communication, like email/blog posts. Even though the numbers should not matter in this decision, as the governor's job is to what's right and not just do what's popular, let's still give her a feel of the ferocity of the opposition. The number to contact the Arizona governor's office is given below, along with a link in case you prefer written communication. Feel free to vent.

Telephone (602) 542-4331
Toll Free 1-(800) 253-0883
Fax (602) 542-1381

http://azgovernor.gov/Contact.asp

Immigration, US Politics, Arizona Law

Should the common man pay the price for the decisions of the government? In many cases, as in the Iraq war and in the calls for the embargo against Iran, many Americans do believe that such an approach is justified. How else do we give a message to the government, and how else do we make them realize their mistakes? How else will we compel them to reverse their decision? Well, my initial knee-jerk reaction was to join the calls for boycott (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/us/27arizona.html?bl), especially after the more infuriating comments by the governor justifying her actions (and all the elected reps shameless using the same masquerade when they voted) as something that is required to handle the increasing crime in her state. They can try as much as they want to call this 'immigrant purging' by any other name, but luckily this time (unlike in the Iraq war) the American people are not going to fall for that joke of a reason and are not going to get brainwashed.  The sad part is that there are many Arizona residents who support this law, and we will make every effort to ram some sense and empathy into them too.

However, after some due thought, I decided that I will stick to my principle, where I will not knowingly make any innocent person suffer and pay the price of the ignorance and activisim of their racist brethren. The truth is that there are many residents in Arizona who oppose the law too, and our collective actions against the state will hurt then for no fault of theirs. That was one (small) piece of my arguments agains the Iraq war (which involved deception and sliminess on a much larger scale), and also against the secretive incarceration of 'suspects' in the years following 9/11. The same way an American drone would not target a civilian area knowingly, we will not target an area knowing that we will 'hit' innocent people as well. However, those neanderthals who passed the law need to be taught a unforgettable lesson, and I would appreciate if you have any suggestion in that regard (please leave a comment or drop in a note to admin@hitbackharder.com). I would also make our voices heard loud and clear and make sure each one of us sends a messsge to the governor and the elected reps, by using the links below (or calling).

http://az.gov and http://azgovernor.gov/

Also, lest we become like the tea party ourselves, let's try to come up with some good alternatives to combat illegal immigration, without letting the hard-working legal immigrant suffer.

Immigration, US Politics, Arizona Law Arizona law, Arizona boycott, Arizona governor

OK, I had to hold off on my tea party series of articles as this took more immediate precedence. I do not have to give my opinion of the outrageous law passed in Arizona, but all I can say is we will not take it quietly. Obviously many immigrants cannot vote yet (they are not citizens yet as the process takes a while) so passing this law may not hurt the governor politically, but we will scream loud enough that her head hurts. Let me say it one more time, as the many 'ape brains' in this country do not seem to get it (or do not care what happens to 'foreigners'). You cannot create an atmosphere of harrasment and intimidation for the legal immigrant just to catch a few illegals. This country cannot reach a stage where you have to carry your passport when you go out to throw the trash or else you might be chucked into jail. No siree, that is not done. This country invited all the legal immigrants and is partaking in all the economic they provide (hey, they gotta buy a lot of new stuff when they get here), and then hound and harass them to satisy one of your narrow objectives. It is obvious that the people who passed this law cannot empathize with the impact of this law on immigrants, and the amount of mental strain it puts on them, as they haven't lived as an immigrant anywhere themselves. But we will hammer empathy into every citizen of this country, if that is what it takes. It's also besides the point that this law applies to everybody, so citizens have a good chance at being pulled over too, and it will be good fun to see people who passed this law being pulled over and asked for birth certificates/passports. I doubt that will happen though as I have feeling that the people who passed this law do not look like an immigrant. Check out this story though, to get a feel of things to come - > http://digg.com/d31PQVn.

However, the focus of this blog is not just to voice opinions but also provide means for action. I urge every person who agrees that this law is toxic to contact the Arizona Governor and give her a piece of your mind ... heck, give her more than a piece if possible for she certainly needs some grey matter up there ...

http://www.azgovernor.gov/contact.asp

If people have the contact detials for the offices of the reps who 'ayed' this vote, please post it here so that we can clear out their earwax.

Immigration, US Politics, Arizona Law Arizona immigrants